Individual vs Systemic: Framing Obesity in America

Drew T. Hale

Professor Marjorie Ralph

English 1010

9 November 2015

Framing Obesity In the article written by Regina G. Lawrence, the topic of obesity/public health in the United States is classified as an “Epidemic” (Regina, 56). The main thesis focus is to determine whether the epidemic is an “Individualizing” or a “systemic” frame. The decision on which frame is more appropriate for the epidemic will determine the government’s assistance. “Defining a problem in individualized terms limits governmental responsibility for addressing it, while systemic frames invite governmental action.” (Regina, 57) The main point of the article is to articulate the points or the differences in the cause of obesity in America. The main two points are whether

The author uses graphs and different forms of interpretation to aid the reader into thinking in a critical and self-reflecting matter. The argument of it being environmental may be cause for concern, but it is not the primary source of the problem. The lack of self-control, self-worth, and education many Americans have concerning health and fitness is the main cause for the obesity epidemic in America today. The sources used by the author dictated the conversation that could be issued. The difference stances and opinions gave the author a broader viewpoint to discuss the issue on. With the aid of sources and references, many being used above, she gave the reader a different view point of the problem, debating the reader to determine whether it truly is something that cannot be controlled or is something that can easily be avoided based on freewill. The things I read from Regina’s article really opened my eyes to a different point of view, I was able to understand why some individuals feel as though obesity runs in their family, or is to be treated as a disease accompanied by a pill. But my stance on the matter is unwavering, obesity is a choice and a sentence. Obesity is in the hands of the one who is putting the burger in their mouth over and over and looking in the mirror and seeing themselves become bigger and bigger and not doing anything about

The myth of you can eat whatever you want, only if you live an active lifestyle has been proven as false. The American people have become lazy and have chosen to give a blind eye to the matter, stating that we all need to accept ourselves and love one another. But this simply is not the case. Whether or not you love yourself and your weight still has no effect whether or not you are on of the three hundred thousand a year that end their life early due to bad eating habits. There is no battle of obesity, obesity isn’t a disease doctors need to find a cure for. Obesity is only the product of eating too much and not caring on what you look like, not caring on how your influence influences others around you, and not caring about the true knowledge that the individual is killing themselves in a slow and painful